Today’s notice: Breaking: Person honestly enjoys the pizza in the House cafeteria. The ICE-ification of the entire government. But first: Budget moves and hunting Indiana for tea leaves.
What Year Is It Anyway?
It’s a real make-or-break week for reconciliation watchers as Senate Republicans may finally move on the House’s budget resolution to meet their ambitious timeline. But there’s a predictable standoff emerging between the two chambers, with House leadership warning that their budget bill can’t change too much or nothing will pass at all, given Speaker Mike Johnson’s microscopic margins, NOTUS’ Hill team reports this morning.
Sources told NOTUS that while nothing is set in stone yet, the Senate could start adopting a compromise budget on Wednesday, but the process could draw out into Friday or Saturday. But Senate Majority Leader John Thune wants to get this done in order to unlock the reconciliation process.
The pressure to get President Donald Trump’s agenda done through one “big beautiful bill” by May caused Rep. Elise Stefanik’s nomination for U.N. ambassador to implode last week. Her pending departure and closer-than-comfortable polling margins in Tuesday’s election for a Florida seat vacated by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz was making the White House nervous. Now the administration and House GOP leadership are pointing fingers at each other for who is to blame for this big mess, as NOTUS reported.
A sweeping, partisan bill moving through Congress? A special election that may flip the fortunes of a party? The Senate is mad at the House and the House is mad at the Senate? The White House is scrambling on a nomination? Constituents are standing and yelling at any majority party member they can find?
For those of us who have been around the sun a few times, this all feels familiar. It’s 2009, we nod at each other knowingly, or maybe it’s 2017. But is it really? Let’s take a look at the nature of the pressure members of the majority party are under this time.
To look for clues, NOTUS’ Daniella Diaz spent two days in Indiana at town halls held by the quixotic GOP Rep. Victoria Spartz. There was a great deal of anger coming Spartz’s way over the budget as well as Signal-gate and Elon Musk. But also: “Of the 12 attendees NOTUS spoke to, only one identified as a Republican,” Daniella reports. A room full of Democrats is just not something a member like Spartz in a ruby red district worries about.
The pressure Republicans really feel is from MAGA and Trump himself. Which brings us back to our Hill team’s preview for the week ahead and the fight between the House and Senate with each drawing their red lines over what won’t pass their respective chambers.
Sen. Thom Tillis told our reporters this budget problem is one Trump will likely need to solve. “The president is going to probably have to play some balls and strikes if we can’t work out most of the differences between the two chambers,” Tillis said.
—Evan McMorris-Santoro | Read the budget preview. | Read Daniella’s dispatch.
“If You Just Came Here To Scream…”
The Spartz lines that stuck out from Daniella’s reporting on the town halls this weekend:
- “No, I will not demand their resignation.” – on Signal-gate and the top NatSec officials involved (Audience response: boo.)
- “I know that you’re frustrated with Elon Musk…He helps to show transparency.” – On DOGE
- “If you just came here to scream then we’re not going to have a conversation.” – On the general vibe at the events.
- BONUS: “I really applaud her for having the guts to show up.” – Spartz constituent Pam Fischer, who does not agree with her on most things but respected her for doing what a lot of reps won’t these days.
Front Page
- Keisha Lance Bottoms Prepares for a Potential Governor Run in Georgia — With a MAGA Operative on the Payroll: The MAGA operative does work on a political nonprofit associated with the former Atlanta mayor.
- New Jersey’s Republican Candidates Are Going MAGA. Democrats Say It’s Welcome.: The two leading candidates for the Republican gubernatorial nomination have highlighted their ties to Trump, which Democrats think will turn off voters.
- Elon Musk’s Million Dollar Voting Giveaway Is Likely Illegal in Wisconsin, Election Experts Say: This is not the first time Musk has doled out cash during an election but previous efforts were tied to registration.
- Another Legal Giant Cut a Deal With Trump: This is the second deal President Donald Trump has struck as his administration targets major white shoe law firms.
- Trump’s Push Against Federal Workers’ Collective Bargaining Hits a Nerve at the TSA: The White House is expanding its campaign against collective bargaining agreements.
All Agencies are Immigration Agencies Now
The Trump administration is taking a whole-of-government approach to immigration enforcement, in keeping with a key campaign promise. But the shift is straining the traditionally-understood operations of multiple government agencies.
NOTUS’ Casey Murray reports on the erosion of thick walls around privacy at the IRS, where the Trump administration wants taxpayer data to be used to prove suspected undocumented people are in fact in the country illegally. The information “has historically been closely kept to avoid violating data laws,” but a coming deal may give Homeland Security access to it, she reports.
Undocumented people may find themselves prosecuted for doing what the government has long told them to do: pay taxes like everyone else.
Meanwhile, the White House plans to change the way HUD deals with undocumented people in shelters and housing programs, NOTUS’ Amelia Benavides-Colón reports. “Mixed status families” currently receive housing assistance only for the documented household members, but using that data to arrest undocumented people could end up subverting the usual understanding of what HUD actually does.
“They’re going to make mistakes, like they always do, and they’re going to kick a lot of especially children, citizen children out on the street,” Rep. Juan Vargas, one of a group of Democrats pushing back on Trump’s HUD proposals, told Amelia.
Read Casey’s story. | Read Amelia’s story.
🍕Quotable: What Do You Want On Your Tombstone?
“I’m a big fan of the pizza...Many of my New York colleagues would probably disagree.”
That’s Rep. Brian Jack on the pizza available in the House cafeteria which 1. means he uses an astoundingly broad definition of the word “pizza” and 2. makes him a rarity on the Hill. NOTUS’ Oriana González reports on the powerful movement to change the food vendor in the House, widely known to be the worst on the Hill.
Week Ahead
- President Donald Trump has dubbed Wednesday April 2 Liberation Day – the administration will be placing new and additional tariffs on a number of countries and imported goods.
- Tuesday’s special elections in two Florida GOP strongholds will fill the House seats left vacant by former Rep. Matt Gaetz and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.
- A consequential Wisconsin Supreme Court election that will determine which party controls the state’s high court is also slated for Tuesday.
Not Us
We know NOTUS reporters can’t cover it all. Here’s some other great hits by… not us.
- DOGE Plans to Rebuild SSA Codebase in Months, Risking Benefits and System Collapse by Makena Kelly for Wired
- The new new (new) left by David Weigel for Semafor
- The multitrillion-dollar debate over “zero” by Felix Salmon for Axios
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